Friday, September 26, 2008

Standing with the saints in Orissa

A month has come and gone and still Christians in Orissa continue to suffer attacks at the hands of Hindus.  Blaming them for the death of Hindu leader Laxmananda Saraswati and angry over the numbers of Hindus coming to faith in Christ, mobs have driven thousands of Christians from their homes. Dozens of church buildings have been destroyed or damaged, at INDIA_orissaleast 50 believers have been killed, schools and colleges have been attacked and vandalized, and numerous cases of forced conversions to Hinduism have been reported.  Even relief camps have been attacked, as mobs terrorize the refugees, sometimes poisoning the water supplies and/or stealing supplies.  The state government has done little to bring the situation under control.

The Voice of the Martyrs has committed to sending aid to the Christians of Orissa.  Funds for legal assistance, relief aid, and rebuilding projects are being raised and sent through reliable channels to insure that the help gets to those in need.  You can join us through an online donation to our Relief and Development Fund. Together we can let our brothers and sisters know that they are not forgotten during these days of tribulation.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is there a place where the names of all the dead has actually been listed? I would very much like to see the names, photos - where available - and times of death for those who have perished in the persecutions.

Glenn Penner said...

Not yet,nor do I think there ever will be. Keep in mind that this is an ongoing situation in a large, remote area. All of the facts will probably never be known, as I doubt that we (or anyone else) will ever have a chance to talk to everyone impacted by this. To be honest, this is also not a priority to those of us who are trying to help these folks. We have far too many more important and urgent things than to work at putting together such a list at this time(which some would undoubtedly dispute the accuracy of anyway). We have received many reports already from a variety of sources. We are careful to say only what we are confident is true and no more (I typically always go with conservative estimates). We'll leave the actual work of documentation of the details you would like to look at (would be curious to know why) to the historians who might have the inclination to do this after the attacks have settled down.

Anonymous said...

INDIAN HINDUS ARE GETTING PROSPEROUS ABROAD INDIA AND SPREADNG IN NUMBERS.THEY ARE FUNDING HINDU EXTREMISTS GROUPS LIKE BJP-BHRTIYA JANTA PARTY,RSS-RASHTRIYA SWYAMSEVAK SANGHA,VHP-VISHWA HINDU PRISHAD,BAJRANG DAL EC IN INDIA PRINCIPALLY FOUND REPONSIBLE FOR RECENT RAPE ON NUNS,BURNING OF CHURCHES AND HOMES,KILLING OF CHRISTIANS ETC.

THESE ORGANIZATIONS MUST BE BANNED WORLD WIDE AND SUCH MONEY FLOW FROM ALL OVER WORLD TO THESE TERRORISTS MUST BE STOPPED.

WORLD COMMUNIT MUST PRESSURIZE UNION INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO STOP THIS ETHNIC CLEANSING BLOOD BATH IN BJP RULED STATES